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Chapter 1:
Structuralism: early school of psychology (introspection to explore structural elements of the
mind)
Functionalism: school focusing on how mental/behavioral processing function- how they enable
us to survive and flourish
Behaviorism: Psychology should be objective, observable traits only
Psychodynamics: how behaviour springs from unconscious desires
Behavior or mental processes:
Biological influences (natural selection, genetics)
Social-cultural influences (Expectations, influences, media)
Psychological influences (learned behaviour, processing, interpretations, emotions)
Schools of Psychology
Biological
Manipulation of psychological state to see what the effect on brain activity, structure
Attention, memory, decision making
Manipulation (stimulation, lesions, drugs)
Cognitive
Late 19th century
Revived in 1950s, now a large percentage of psychology
Memory, attention, decision-making, language, inference of mental states and
processing
Based on response patterns and performance
No direct observations
Subdivisions: cognitive neuroscience (perception, memory, thinking, language)
Neural/cognitive modeling (use of computers to mimic processing)
Behavioural
1920s Watson, B.F Skinner (1935-1990)
Only behaviour can be observed
Deterministic (determined by consequential events)
Social (includes also industrial; organizational)
Social environment and its effects (attitudes, learning)
High use of surveys
Sociobiology (evolution, genetics)
EO Wilson, Richard Dawkins
Social neuroscience
Psychoanalytical/Psychodynamic
S. Freud late 19th early 20th century
Unconscious behaviour is repressed (to prevent from trauma)
Clinical (including humanistic/phenomenological and personality)
Unique quality of human behaviour
Unique personal experience (subjective)
Al Barr
Clinical studies, assesses, and treats people with disorders
Developmental (changes in behaviour across the life span)
History
W. Wundt & E. Titchener: Introspection, Structuralism: Attempted to discover the basic
structures of the mind/consciousness (analogous to the basic elements in Chemistry).
Freud; Role of the unconscious in determining our behaviour.
James; Functionalism/Pragmatism: What is the adaptive value (or function) of consciousness
and emotions? What is the function of our thoughts and emotions?
Watson/Skinner: Tenets of behaviorism. Study only what is directly observable Dismissed
the study of the unconscious through introspection or psychoanalysis as unscientific
Overconfidence: We tend to overestimate what we actually know. We overestimate our
abilities.
False consensus effect: The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our
beliefs and attitudes. The belief that most people agree with our opinions/beliefs/likes
Chapter 2:
Biological psychology
Neuronal and Synaptic Transmission:
Neuron: Nerve cell
Sensory neurons: Incoming information from sensory receptors to brain and spinal cord
Motor neurons: From brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands
Interneurons: Neurons within brain and spinal cord that communicate internally
Dendrite: Projections away from cell body- receives messages from other cells
Conduct impulses towards cell body
Axon: Messages pass to other neurons, slender tube
Surrounded by white myelin sheath (insulator)
Short axons are grey
Myelin sheath: Fat tissue for protection, insulation, and faster transmission
Terminal ending (bouton): swelling of end for storage of neurotransmitters
1906 Nobel Prize: C Golgi (stain for nerve cells)
S. Ramon Y Cajal (observed the different types of neurons)
Neuronal Transmission:
Resting potential; neuron carries electrical charge that can change which allows interneuron
communication
When inactive, ions are negative within cell membrane
Action potential: Will travel down the length of the axon
When the flow of neurons reaches the threshold of excitation, the neuron fires and can
influence the firing of surrounding neurons
Threshold: Level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
Synapse: Junction between axon tip of sending neuron and dendrite or cell body at the
receiving neuron. Tiny gap is called synaptic gap
Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap, and bind to receptor
sites.
Reuptake: Sender reabsorbs excess neurotransmitters
Endorphins: Natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure
Depolarization: Change in a cell's membrane potential, making it more positive, or less
negative. In neurons and some other cells, a large enough depolarization may result in an
action potential. Hyperpolarization is the opposite of depolarization, and inhibits the rise of an
action potential.
Synaptic process: release of neurotransmitter, post-synaptic receptor site and removal
(breakdown) of neurotransmitter
All or none law: You get action potential or nothing
In action potential, amplitude is constant; increasing the intensity will not make action
potential larger
Myelin sheath is not continuous, must be open in some places (nodes of Ranvier) to allow
action potential to jump between nodes (hence the faster transmission)
NTs
1) ACh Acetylcholine
a. Muscle contractions
b. Enables learning and memory
c. Botulin and curare blocks release of ACh
d. Venom (black widow, cone snail)
e. Depleted in Alzheimers disease
2) Norepinephrine/ Noradrenaline
a. Synthesized from adrenaline
b. Helps control alertness and arousal
3) Gamma-Aminobutyric acid: GABA
a. Inhibitory
b. Sedative, sleep, anti-anxiety meds
4) Dopamine (DA)
a. Mostly inhibitory
b. Attention, decision making, learning
c. Linked to ADHD
5) Serotonin
a. 5-HT
b. Affects mood, sleep, hunger, arousal
c. Role in sleep?
6) Endorphins
a. Natural opiates
b. Inhibit pain sensation
c. Mood and pleasure increase
7) Glutamate
a. Excitatory, involved in memory
Nervous system: The bodys electrochemical communication network, consisting of nerve
cells of peripheral and central nervous system
Central Nervous system: Brain and spinal cord aka CNS
Peripheral nervous system: sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of
the body
Nerves: Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting CNS to muscles, glands.
Somatic nervous system: Controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles
Autonomic nervous system: Controls self-regulated action of internal organs and glands
Sympathetic nervous system: Div of autonomic nervous system: arousal
Parasympathetic nervous system: Div of autonomic nervous system: calming
Reflex: Automatic response to a stimulus
Endocrine system: Glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
Pituitary gland: Below the hypothalamus, regulates growth and other glands
Adrenal gland: Just above kidneys: epinephrine and norepinephrine
Lesion: Tissue destruction naturally or experimentally caused
Orientation:
Medial-Lateral (Middle-side)
Dorsal-Ventral (Belly-back)
Anterior-Posterior (front-back)
Superior-Inferior (Above-below)
Slices:
Horizontal (parallel to floor)
Coronal (Ear to ear)
Sagittal (nose to back of head)
Mid-sagittal (splits into equal halves)
EEG (electroencephalogram)
Electrodes on scalp, reads electrical activity
Poor resolution, fast
Inexpensive
PET (position emission tomography)
What areas require glucose to function?
Transduction (at the receptor level) a device that converts variations in a physical
quantity, such as pressure or brightness, into an electrical signal, or vice versa.
The bodys sensory receptors are sensitive to only a small percentage of the earths
energy
Ear= pressure
Eyes=light energy
Turns the signal into an electrical signal for the nervous system to understand
Sensory neurons
Sensation is more or less objective, presumably the same in all humans and animals
Bottom-up processing? Starting with smaller details and working way up to the main
idea(s)
Perception
Integrating sensory information with permanent memories
Subjective
Perception is different in all organisms but similar in depth, motion, smell, etc.
Absolute threshold: minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
Difference threshold: minimum difference between two stimuli to detect 50% of the
time
Webers law delta I/I=k (Intensity) Based on ratio* to determine how much of a percentage
is required to detect change
Signal detection theory: measurement of a threshold requires the observer to consciously
perceive a stimulus.
Dealing with the uncertainty when the stimulus is near the threshold.
Not giving any signal at all (catch trial) can determine how well the observer can
discriminate a signal from no signal.
Ratio of hits to false alarms
Both intensity and psychological factors play a role (strategy, level of attention,
motivation, learning)
Determination of what to focus on
Subliminal perception:
Ability to perceive stimuli below threshold
Possible to perceive a stimulus and only become aware of it later, when it might be
recognized or recalled.
Sensory coding: How different inputs are recognized
The specific nerve that carries the neuronal message codes modality. Mullers
specificity
Parallel processing: carrying out multiple tasks at the same time (ex. Location and
intensity)
Limitations of neurons the all or none law:
-amplitude modulation not possible, is frequency modulation is possible
Adaptation:
Firing pattern of the neuron can also code the duration of stimulus.
Observer does not have to constantly perceive inputs that are the same, but observe
the changes that occur.
This is through the process of adaptation
Long duration stimulus
The receptor is no longer capable of firing, due to neuronal fatigue (depletion of the
neurotransmitters)
Habituation (contrasted with adaptation)
The incoming stimulus reaches a certain level of the nervous system where memory is
stored, and if they match processing ceases. Receptor is capable of firing.
Habituation in all
Audition:
Collision of air molecules resulting a compression and expansion of air (think water
ripples)
The denser the sound, the better it travels. (Sea mammal communication)
Frequency (Hz) Time between waves determines wavelength. This is frequency. High
frequency- short distance
o Human ear 20-20,000 Hz (1000 Hz, 1000 vibrations of ear drum per second)
o
Not all frequencies are perceived equally well. Some must be amplified. Human speech
(500-2000 Hz)
The Ear
Outer Ear
o
pinnae
o
auditory canal
Middle Ear
o
ear drum
o
hammer, anvil, stirrup (concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the
cochleas oval window)
Inner Ear
o cochlea (coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube through which sound waves trigger
neural impulses
o semicircular canals, vestibular sacs
o
auditory nerve
The frequency (number) of times the auditory nerve fires codes frequency
The frequency of firing of the nerve could not then code the intensity of sound. The
number of auditory neurons that carry the signal might code intensity.
Problems with this theory
Limit to the frequency at which neuron can fire (upper limit is 1000 Hz)
Place Theory
Frequency coded by place stimulated on basilar membrane
Volley theory offers an explanation. A single neuron cannot fire at a rate higher than
1000 Hz. But if the neurons fire in a volley (like cannons) then higher frequencies can
be coded
Localization of Sound
Hearing in stereo (two ears)
Time difference between arrival of the sound. A sound occurring on the left side will
arrive at the left ear before it arrives at the right ear. The difference in time of arrival is
very short, about 300 to 600 s (millionths of a sec; gives you an idea of the sensitivity
of our hearing).
Intensity difference between the ears. The sound occurring on the left side will be louder
in the left than the right ear. In fact, the head will actually block and attenuate the
intensity of the sound being transmitted to the right ear. This is often called a sound
shadow.
What happens if the sound is in front or behind us, exactly equidistant from the ears? We
have difficulty locating the sound.
2. Sensation (vision, perception)
Physics of Light
500-600 green
600-700 red
Eye
Cornea (covering)
Iris (Ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around pupil and
controls size of pupil)
Lens (transparent structure behind pupil which changes shape to focus images on the
retina)
W
W
W
W
W
Retina (rods and cones, fovea, blind spot) light sensitive inner surface that begin
processing information
The retina consists of 3 layers
1 The rods and cones
1 Rods: receptors that detect black white grey, peripheral and twilight vision
2 Cones: centre of retina and detect fine detail, color
2 The bipolar cells
3 The ganglion cells
4
W Optic nerve: neural impulses away from eye to brain
W Blind spot: Point at which optic nerve leaves the eye
W Fovea: Central focal point of retina, around which cones cluster
W
The light sensitive rods and cones are located in the back of the retina
Light must thus pass through the other layers before striking the rods and cones
The rods and cones have a chemical reaction to light.
If the reaction is strong enough, the bipolar cells will be activated
Bipolar cells activate the ganglion cells
The axons of the ganglion cells converge at the blind spot to form the optic nerve.
The cones:
Packed in the centre of the retina, near the fovea (where vision is most acute- acuity
Colour vision- three types of cones for red, green and blue
A single cone may project to a single bipolar cell. The output of the cone will have to be very
high in order for the bipolar cell to be activated. Needs a great deal of light o see in colour.
Rods:
In the periphery. (More rods than cones, but rods are not nearly as densely packed as
the cones)
Several rods project to a single bipolar cell, sensitive to low levels of light
Colour Theory
3-colour theory Young-Helmholtz trichromatic
A red cone synapses with a red optic nerve, other colours are created in the cortex
by mixing the number of nerves that carry each colour messages.
Against: Adaptation studies (looking at red for a long time, looks at white and sees
green instead)
2 colour theory
2-colour opponent neurons probably operate at a higher level than the receptor
(more of a psychological theory)
Half of the optic nerve crosses near the hypothalamus. The crossing point is called the
optic chiasm.
In the end, the left visual field (note, not the left eye) projects to the right visual cortex
and right visual field to the left visual cortex.
If relevant, the visual information is forwarded to the primary visual cortex in the
occipital lobe.
Feature Detection
Single neurons in the primary visual cortex seem to be specialized for:
horizontal/vertical lines, lines at specific angles or specific length
SENSATION: PAIN
Phasic pain: immediately upon sensation (Protective role, remove yourself from the
source of pain, designed to interrupt previous processing) (Before and after a long term
pain)
Tonic pain: long lasting chronic pain after the phasic pain has ceased (more subjective,
Highly psychological
When no input comes in, the inhibitory neuron prevents the projection neuron from
sending signals to the brain (gate is closed).
Normal somatosensory input happens when there is more large-fiber stimulation (or
only large-fiber stimulation). Both the inhibitory neuron and the projection neuron are
stimulated, but the inhibitory neuron prevents the projection neuron from sending
signals to the brain (gate is closed).
Nociception (pain reception) happens when there is more small-fiber stimulation or
only small-fiber stimulation. This inactivates the inhibitory neuron, and the projection
neuron sends signals to the brain informing it of pain (gate is open).
Kinesthesis: System for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Vestibular sense: Sense of body movement and position, including balance. Vestibular
system/Balance (sense of gravity)
The 3 fluid-filled, semicircular canals are located in the inner ear.
They detect movement in 3 directions, forward-backward; lateral-medial; up-down
Sensation caused by movement of fluid in the canals
Vestibular system/Balance (sense of gravity)
The 3 semicircular canals are located in the inner ear.
They detect movement in 3 directions, forward-backward; lateral-medial; up-down
Sensation caused by movement of fluid in the canals
Perception
Complex interaction of different parts of the brain
Distinguishing lines, depth, size, shape, colour, movement, all features of object
Visual Capture
Vision dominates other senses. Captures our attention.
Perceptual Organization:
Gestalt psych: 30s
Given multiple sensations, perceiver observes as a whole or gestalt
similarity, proximity, continuity, and closure
Edge detection
Sensory interaction: One sense may influence another
Figure ground: Organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their
surroundings
Grouping: Pereptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
Visual cliff: Testing depth perception in infants and animals
Depth Perception: ability to see objects in 3D, judge distance (even though retina is in 2D)
Binocular cues:
Relative size
Relative height
Motion Perception:
Misconception of Movement
The eyes are in constant motion- the brain has learned to distinguish these movements
Perceptual Constancies
Allows us to perceive an object as unchanging even though the stimuli have changed
Lightness constancy: Relative luminance (a black object in bright sunlight still reflects
less light than a white object indoors)
Phi phenomenon: An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink
on/off in quick succession
Color constancy: Perceiving familiar objects with consistent color, despite changing light
Restored vision: When adults who have been blind from birth regain sight, they are
able to distinguish colour and foreground from background. They can distinguish
individual features. But, they have a difficult time distinguishing whole objects.
Critical period: Many (but not all) aspects of perception have to be learned. If they are
not learned before a certain critical period, they can never later be learned.
Perceptual adaptation: Many mammals (especially humans) can re-learn (or adapt) to
large changes in stimulus input. Humans that wear goggles that invert their vision
soon learn to adapt.
Chapter 3
Inattentional blindness:
Failing to see objects when attention is directed elsewhere
Change blindness
Failing to notice changes in the environment
Manifest content
Clear/obvious
Latent content
Hidden/concealed
REM rebound
REM rebound is the lengthening and increasing frequency and depth of REM sleep that occurs
after periods of sleep deprivation. When people have been prevented from experiencing REM,
they take less time than usual to attain the REM state.
Hypnosis
The social interaction n in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions,
feelings, thoughts, or actions will spontaneously occur
Posthypnotic suggestion
A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer
hypnotized. Used by some clinicians to control behaviour
Dissociation
A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviours to occur simultaneously
with others
Near-death experience
An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (similar to druginduced hallucinations)
3. Consciousness as a process and a state
Difficulty defining consciousness
As a state
As a process
Incoming sensory messages are compared to this memory and deemed worthy or not
Cortical fatigue: tired and trying to concentrate (after 90 mins in young adults)
The cocktail party effect (ability to hear one voice among many)
Capacity theory:
Daniel Kahneman (2002 Nobel Prize in economics)
Controlled processing: requires effort, uses resources, and affects performance of other tasks
Serial Processing: Secondary processing cannot begin until the first task has been completed
Automatic processing: no effort, several tasks at once, parallel processing
Automatic processing can conflict with controlled tasks (word colours) Stroop task
Multitasking aka Parallel processing aka Divided attention
Uses serial processing
electroencephalogram (EEG)
electromyogram (EMG)
electrooculogram (EOG)
Other activity
Respiration
Heart beat/pressure
Temperature
Eye movement
beta (awake and alert) high frequency 15 Hz+, low amplitude EEG
alpha (relaxed) 8 -12 Hz, rhythmic EEG
theta (light sleep-drowsiness) 4-7 Hz EEG
delta (deep sleep; coma) low frequency 1-4 Hz, high amplitude EEG
Stages of sleep
Awake
Conscious
EEG slows
Hypnogogic reverie
Loses consciousness
Stage 2
EMG lower
of total sleep
20 mins
Stage 3-4 (Slow Wave Sleep or SWS)
No conscious awareness
25% of sleep
NON REM (NREM)
2,3,4 show theta delta. 2 less delta more theta, 4 more delta less theta
Profound unconsciousness
K complex
Aroused EEG
Difficult to awaken
Muscle inhibition
Sexual arousal
In young adult, 50% of sleep is spent in stage 2; 25% in stage 3-4; 25% in REM
REM accounts for about 50% newborns sleep and even more in premature infant. REM
rapidly declines in % after birth. Reaches adult levels at 8-10 years of age
Stage 3-4 (delta) declines in elderly.
Phylogenetic development:
Small animals sleep the most- highest metabolic rate, conserving energy.
Sea mammals- one hemisphere sleeps at a time
Effects of sleep deprivation:
Sleep loss: An extensive amount of sleep debt cannot be paid off in one night
Purpose of NREM
Biological necessity
REM
Luxury
Memory storage
Sleep disorders
Sleep apnea (cessation of breathing during sleep, forced awakening and gasping for
breath)
Night terrors (high arousal and appearance of being terrified. Stage 4, rare memory of
the dream)
Tolerance: With repeated use, and then more dosage is required to produce the same
effect.
Some drugs require lower dose for same effect (hallucinogens) because the drug
remains in the body for an extended period
Alcohol
Barbiturates
CNS suppression
Opiates
Similar to endorphins
Stimulants
Cortical arousal
Crash
Ecstasy
MDMA euphoria producing, short term health risks, long term risks to serotoninproducing neurons
Hallucinogens
Psychologically addictive
Chapter 7:
Associative learning
Learning that certain events occur together (can be stimuli or a response)
Behaviorism
Psychology should be
1) Objective science
2) Studies behavior without reference to mental processes
Higher order conditioning
A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience in paired with a
new neutral stimulus, create a second (weaker) conditioned stimulus. Tone predicts food but
light predicts tone- responds to light.
Discrimination
The learned ability (classical) to distinguish between conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant
stimuli
Respondent behaviour
Behaviour that occurs as automatic to some stimuli
Operant chamber
Skinner box containing a bar that an animal can manipulate to obtain food/water reinforcer.
Recording animal rate of bar pressing
Shaping
Operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behaviour toward closer and closer
approximations of desired behavior
Cognitive map
A mental representation of the layout of ones environment
Latent learning
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is a need to demonstrate it
Intrinsic motivation
A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
Extrinsic motivation
Desires to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment
Mirror neurons
The frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions of when observing another
doing so. Enables imitation and empathy
Prosocial behavior
Positive, constructive, helpful behaviour: The opposite of antisocial
5. Learning
Association between two formerly unrelated events causes learning
Classical conditioning: association between two stimuli is learned
Operant conditioning: association between response to a stimuli and a subsequent
consequence is learned
Habituation
Upon repetition of the stimulus, the response to the stimulus becomes smaller and
gradually decreases altogether. This process is called habituation.
It is possible that the initial presentation of a stimulus was consciously detected. The
observer became aware of the stimulus. With repetition of the stimulus, suddenly
the observer is no longer conscious of it.
Following conditioning, any similar stimuli to the conditioned stimulus will elicit
conditioned response.
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned for stimuli similar to the
conditioned response to elicit similar responses
Can explain many fears and phobias
In the example on the right, an animal salivates (the UCR) when presented with food
(the UCS). Now the animal is shocked (or perhaps touched) on the thigh. This does not
elicit the UCR, salivation. After the food and the shock have been paired for a number
of trials, soon the shock (now the CS) elicits the CS, salivation. However, shocking
other parts of the body will also elicit the CR. This is called generalization. The CR has
generalized to the stimulation of any body part. The strength of this CR will however
not be as strong as the shock to the original body part, the thigh. The CR will be
weakest the farther the body part is from the thigh.
Operant conditioning
E. Thorndike
Shaping: The organism will normally not respond appropriately on the very first
trial. The appropriate behavior (the response) has to be shaped. Thus, successive
approximations of the appropriate response are provided. Let us assume a
behaviourist wants to have a rat push on a lever when a light is flashed. In the end,
it will be reinforced (delivery of food) only when it pushes on the lever. However,
initially, if the rat turns and looks at the light, a reinforcer will be delivered.
Subsequently, it will not be enough to simply look at the light. Now the rat must
approach the lever. If it does, it will be reinforced. Then, when it raises its paw, it
will be reinforced, but only if the rat is in front of the lever. Finally, the rat will be
reinforced only when it pushes on the lever and only when it pushes on the lever
after the light is flashed.
Types of Reinforcers
Positive reinforcement:
o
Negative reinforcement:
o
Remove the organism from an aversive situation (when the cat opens the gate,
or the rate presses the lever to stop a shock)
Schedules of Reinforcement
Extinction
This can take a long time, but the response will be removed
Punishment
Alternative to extinction
General view is that punishment eliminates response, but it is not that case.
Observational learning
Modeling
Chapter 8
Memory
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information
Encoding
The processing of information into the memory system, for example, by extracting meaning
(Semantic (type of) Acoustic (rhymes with) Visual)
Storage
Retention of information
Retrieval
Getting info out of memory storage
Sensory memory
Very brief recording of sensory info in memory
Short-term memory
Holds a few items briefly, before the information is either stored/forgotten
Long-term memory
Permanent and limitless storehouse of memory system; includes knowledge, skills, experiences
Working memory
Conscious, active processing of incoming sensory info and retrieval of other info
Automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental info such as space, time, frequency and well learned info
Effortful processing
Encoding that requires effort and attention
Rehearsal
Conscious repetition of info for storage
Spacing effect
Distributed study or practice yields better long-term retention than mass study/practice
Serial position effect
Tendency to recall first/last items in a list better
Visual encoding
Encoding pictures
Acoustic encoding
Encoding sound (esp. words)
Semantic encoding
Encoding meaning (incl. words)
Imagery
Mental pictures
Mnemonics
Memory aids, especially those that use imagery and organizational devices
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units. (automatic)
Iconic memory
Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli (no longer than a few 1/10s of a second)
Echoic memory
Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, if attention is elsewhere sounds and words
can still be recalled within 3-4 seconds
Long-term potentiation
An increase in a synapses firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural
basis for learning and memory
Flashbulb memory
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Amnesia
Loss of memory (any period of time)
Types of long-term Memories:
Implicit memory
Retention independent of conscious recollection (Also called non-declarative memory)
Without conscious recall, processed not in the hippocampus (other areas such as the
cerebellum
Motor and cognitive skills and classical conditioning
Explicit memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare (also
called declarative memory, processed in hippocampus, facts (general knowledge) and
personally experienced events
Hippocampus (2)
A neural center that is located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for
storage. Lateralized (under the control of one side of the brain)
Recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
Recognition
A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned
Relearning
A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a
second time
Priming
The activation of particular associations in memory, often done unconsciously seeing word
rabbit activates concept, primes spelling of hare
Dj vu
The sense that one has previously had the exact same experience, cues from the current
situation might trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
Mood congruent memory
The tendency to recall experiences that are congruent with ones own mood.
A failing memory:
An encoding failure, storage decay leads to forgetting. Retrieval failure or interference is also
possible. Motivated forgetting
Absent-mindedness
Transience
Blocking
Misattribution
Suggestibility
Bias
Persistence
Proactive interference
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information
Retroactive interference
The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness
arousing thoughts, feelings, memories
Misinformation effect
Incorporating misleading information into ones memory of an event
Source amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, or imagined. (Also
called source misattribution) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the
heart of many false memories.
Chapter 11: Motivation and Work
Instinct:
Complex behaviour rigidly patterned throughout an entire species
Drive reduction theory:
Physiological need creates a drive that motivates an organisms to satisfy this need
Homeostasis:
Balanced internal state (regulation of body chemistry: glucose, etc.)
A need creates the drive, which causes the drive-reducing behaviours
Incentive:
Positive/negative environment stimulus that motivates behaviour
Human needs:
Esteem
Safety
Physiological
Hormonal hunger cycle:
Insulin, pancreas
Hypothalamus
Blood glucose
Set point
The point at which the weight thermostat is set
When body falls below this, hunger increases and metabolic rate decreases to restore fat.
Basal metabolic rate:
Resting rate of energy expenditure
Anorexia nervosa:
Diets and becomes 15% or lower underweight, continues to diet
Bulimia nervosa:
Episode of over-eating, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise
Binge-eating disorder:
Significant binge eating followed by guilt and other feelings, no behaviour
Eating behaviour has biological factors (hormonal, set points, attractions)
Psychological factors (smell, sight, variety of food, stress) and
Social-cultural factors (culturally learned preferences and responses)
Obesity: cultural implications and stereotypes, health risks, decreased metabolism, genetic
factors
Sexual motivation:
Sexual Response Cycle
The four stages of sexual responding (Masters and Johnson)
Excitement
Plateau
Orgasm
Resolution
Refractory period:
A resting period after orgasm during which males cannot achieve another orgasm
Sexual disorder:
A problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning
Estrogen:
Secreted in greater amounts in females, esp during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity
Testosterone:
Male sex hormone; stimulates growth of sex organs and development during puberty. Also
present in females but less prominent.
Sexual motivation:
Biological (hormones, sexual orientation, maturity)
Psychological (fantasies, exposure to stimulation)
Social-cultural (family, social values, religious values, media, cultural expectation)
Based on external, internal stimuli*
Increased sexual activity in teens:
Ignorance
Alcohol use
Guilt
High intelligence
Religious engagement
Father presence
Participation in community
Sexual orientation:
Sexual attraction to ones own sex (homosexuality) or the opposite sex (heterosexuality)
NOT caused by:
Possibility for fraternal birth order (correlated homosexuality in males with larger number of
older brothers)
Fetal condition, prenatal hormones
Certain clusters of hypothalamic brain cells may be correlating with homosexuality
Homosexuality occurs in animals
People
need love:
Aiding survival
Want to belong
Sustaining relationships
The pain of ostracism
Work Psychology
FLOW
A completely involved, focuses state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and
time, resulting from optimal engagement of ones skills
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Applying psychological concepts to optimize human behaviour in the workplace
Personnel psychology:
A subfield of I/O psychology that focuses on recruitment, selection, placement, training,
appraisal and development
Organizational psychology:
A subfield of I/O psych that examines organizational influences on worker satisfaction and
productivity and facilitates organizational change
Structured interviews:
Interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants.
Achievement motivation:
A desire for significant accomplishment for mastery of things, people, ideas; for rapidly
attaining a standard
Task leadership:
Goal oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work and focuses attention on goals
Social leadership:
Group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict and offers support
Chapter 12
Emotion:
A response of the whole organism involving:
1) Physiological arousal
2) Expressive behaviour (overt display)
3) Conscious experience (appraisal)
Psychological influences:
Cognitive labeling, gender differences
Social-Cultural influences:
Expressiveness, presence of others, cultural expectation
Biological: Physiological arousal, evolutionary adaptiveness, brain pathways, spillover effect
James-Lange theory:
The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological response to
certain arousing stimuli (i.e. Increased heart rate recognition, therefore fear is felt)
Cannon-Bard theory:
The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers
1) Physiological response
2) Emotion (the subjective experience)
Two-factor theory:
Schachter-Singer Theory states that to experience emotion
1) Subject must be physically aroused
No supporting evidence